#ARCTIC. #SIBERIA. THIS IS TAIMYR. 111 people announced their participation in the cold swim on the Yenisey. 96 athletes finished, covering a total of 156 kilometers in three distances: 5 kilometers, 500 and 100 meters.
Let us remind you that cold open water swims are held with the support of the Norilsk Development Agency, the X-WATERS team, as well as the administrations of Dudinka, Norilsk and the Taimyr municipal district, the Nornickel company and the NordStar airlines.
On the day of the large-scale sporting event, July 13, there was a light drizzle, the temperature in the Siberian river was plus 14 degrees, the air temperature fluctuated around plus 20 degrees. At 10 am, fans began to arrive at the place to take part in the trade next to the passenger landing stage and to watch a concert of creative groups from Norilsk and Dudinka.
The athletes received the required start packages and were ready to conquer the Siberian river. Most of the registered participants in the event are non-professional swimmers. But there were also those who had considerable experience in swimming and sporting achievements, confirmed by medals and certificates for prizes.
In addition to participants from Norilsk and Dudinka, the mighty river was conquered by participants from Moscow, St. Petersburg, Yaroslavl, Nizhny Novgorod, Arhangelsk, Irkutsk, Krasnoznamensk, Novosibirsk, Orenburg, Raduzhny and Miass.
“Rain is always good, it always brings fortune. I believe that everything will work nice for you, everything will be wonderful. On behalf of the district head, I welcome the swim participants to our ancient and amazing land. The Yenisey is the most powerful river in Eastern Siberia; it has strong magnetism. We are proud that strong-willed people live in the North. Good luck!” – Tatyana Druppova, deputy head of the Taimyr Dolgano-Nenets municipal district for education and culture, welcomed the participants.
Representatives of the indigenous peoples of the North together with the best athletes – Natalya Vasilyeva, winner of various open water swims and coach of the Taimyr team; Kirill Ambrosimov, honored master of sports, participant in the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo, as well as Norilsk athlete Fedor Truhin, performed a ritual of thanksgiving to local spirits.
“Dudinka is the northernmost point where we have reached, and on behalf of the entire X-WATERS team, I want to thank the project partners, everyone who supported it, for the opportunity to gather swimming lovers here and continue the wonderful tradition of pioneers who have always been in this region on the front line. We are not only swimming across the deepest river in Russia beyond the Arctic Circle, we are also swimming a distance that no one has ever swam before us – 5 kilometers. This will be a new page in the history of X-WATERS and swimming”, said Alexander Bazanov, the ideological inspirer and creator of the X-WATERS project.
The first to go to conquer the Yenisey were the athletes who chose a distance of 5 kilometers. The top three swimmers among men included Kirill Abrosimov (Yaroslavl), who swam across the river in 50 minutes 52.7 seconds, Fedor Truhin (Norilsk), time 1 hour 4 minutes 34.6 seconds, and Muscovite Evgeny Sharich, his time was 1 hour 7 minutes 00.8 seconds.
Among women, prize-winning places at five kilometers were taken by a muscovite Elena Medvedeva, she swam across the Yenisey in 1 hour 23 minutes 7.9 seconds; Norilsk residents Olga Alimpieva, whose time was 1 hour 24 minutes 23.1 seconds, and Veronika Ksenafontova, who covered the distance in 1 hour 27 minutes 30.9 seconds.
“Magnificent river. I liked it very much. I am glad that I’ve covered a distance of 5 kilometers and swum across the Yenisey. I was worried that it would be very cold, but it turned out that I could swim comfortably. Overall I’m happy with the swim. I had fun and, while swimming, admired the beauty of the Yenisey”, said Kirill Abrosimov.
The best among men who swam 500 meters were a muscovite Evgeniy Sharich, a swimmer from Krasnoznamensk Alexander Davidenko and a St. Petersburg resident Matvey Ramma.
Among women at 500 meters, Norilsk athletes Svetlana Vaulina and Daria Tyurina took first and second places, a Muscovite Elena Medvedeva was third.
The fastest 100-meter swimmers among men were a Norilsk resident Nikita Kichiy, Alexander Davidenko from Krasnoznamensk and a muscovite Evgeniy Sharich.
Among the women at 100 meters, the fastest were Norilsk women Elena Turchina, Oksana Yurasova and Nadezhda Kovalchuk.
After the award ceremony, the Taimyr team, together with their coach Natalya Vasilyeva, congratulated the founder of X-WATERS Alexander Bazanov on his 45th birthday, which he celebrated on July 12.
X-WATERS Yenisey 2024 ended with an incendiary disco with the Dudinka bands and the Russian performer Vogel participation.
The X-WATERS Yenisey 2024 swim is over, but after a short break, swimmers will begin to prepare for the X-WATERS Yenisey 2025, which will take place next year on August 2.
Follow us on Telegram, VKontakte.
Text: Natalya Cherkashina, Photo: Denis Kozhevnikov
